While there’s currently no universal cure for tinnitus, numerous treatment options can help manage symptoms, alleviate distress, and improve the quality of life. These options range from devices that change the sounds one hears to techniques that simply help to deal with the annoyance. With the right approach, people suffering from tinnitus can still live their life to the fullest despite the noise.
What can you do?
Treatment Options
CBT
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a type of therapy that helps individuals change their thought patterns to cope better with difficult situations. It’s proven to be effective for various conditions, including tinnitus. In this context, CBT helps individuals manage their reactions to tinnitus, reducing anxiety, depression, and improving sleep patterns. While CBT doesn’t eliminate the noise, it assists people in coping better with the sound and the distress it creates.
Sound Therapy
Sound therapy involves the use of external noise to alter the perception of, or reaction to, tinnitus. This noise can be something simple, like a fan or a white noise machine, or it can be complex sounds, such as music or ambient soundscapes. The noise helps mask or distract from the internal sound of tinnitus, effectively diminishing its perceived volume or the distress associated with it.
Healthy Lifestyle Choices
Maintaining a healthy lifestyle can also influence the intensity of tinnitus. A few cornerstones:
- Engaging in regular physical exercise can help to reduce stress levels, which are known to exacerbate tinnitus.
- A balanced diet, rich in vitamins and minerals, supports the body’s natural defenses and can contribute to overall well-being. Some individuals report that certain foods or additives seem to exacerbate their tinnitus, so maintaining a food diary might help identify potential triggers.
- To not worsen one’s tinnitus, avoiding loud environments and using ear protection when exposed to loud noises is vital.
- Checking personal response to caffeine is recommended. It can have stimulant effects, which may worsen tinnitus for some people. But for others it might not or be even beneficial. In any case, it’s worth monitoring one’s reaction to take the right measures.
Mindfulness and Relaxation Techniques
Mindfulness-based stress reduction and relaxation techniques such as yoga, meditation, and progressive muscle relaxation can help manage tinnitus symptoms. These techniques reduce stress levels, which are often associated with increased tinnitus severity.
Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT)
TRT combines elements of sound therapy and counseling to help people habituate to their tinnitus. It involves using sound generators and one-on-one counseling to achieve habituation. This method does not aim to eliminate tinnitus, but to reduce the emotional and cognitive responses to it, thereby decreasing its perceived impact on the individual’s life.
Tinnitus Apps
Smartphone apps provide another layer of support for people with tinnitus. There are apps that focus on sound therapy, as well as apps that help to identify potential influencing factors. One example is the app Tinnilog. It helps track one’s tinnitus, treatment progress, and identify factors of tinnitus, providing valuable insights that can guide treatment. The app allows users to log their symptoms, making it possible to observe changes and trends over time. This data can be shared with healthcare professionals to tailor treatment strategies and evaluate their effectiveness.
Hearing Aids
For individuals with hearing loss as well as tinnitus, hearing aids can be a potent treatment tool. By amplifying ambient noises, they can make the internal sounds of tinnitus less noticeable. The Department of Otolaryngology in Seoul published a study that shows, hearing aids are effective in reducing the perceived intensity of tinnitus.
Medications
As the American Tinnitus Association points out, there are currently no FDA-approved drugs to treat tinnitus. Yet, some medications can help to reduce the severity of those symptoms associated with tinnitus. These include antidepressants and antianxiety drugs, which can help manage the emotional responses to tinnitus. It is extremely important to consult a healthcare professional before even considering any medication.
Where to go from here
Finding the right treatment or combination of treatments for tinnitus can take time and patience, as the condition is highly individualized and can have various underlying causes. The options listed above provide a variety of ways to manage tinnitus, but the most crucial first step is to seek professional advice.
Remember, managing tinnitus is about improving your quality of life and minimizing the condition’s impact. Treatment options are not about ‘curing’ the condition, but instead, they focus on managing symptoms, reducing distress, and supporting a positive and healthy life despite tinnitus. It’s a journey of personal exploration, patience, and resilience. So, explore these treatment options, use tools like Tinnilog to track your progress, and find what works best for you.
